There is so much I'd like to write about the Princess but I know I'd get shouted down.
I will say this though, she will never be forgotten but perhaps she will be remembered for the wrong reasons.
On the day of her anniversary my thoughts were with the thousands of people in America (I'm British) who had lost there lives, home,hope and innocence in the hurricane. I'm quite sure had Diana been alive her thoughts would have been with them also.

There is so much I'd like to write about the Princess but I know I'd get shouted down.

Georgia I don't know if you have read through this thread, but if you had done so you would have found that no-one has been shouted down. All posts in the spirit of the thread are welcomed. If in doubt what the spirit is, please see Tiaraprin's introductory post (post #1).

8 years on and I think I can see her legacy live on, of course through her children but also the change within the royal family. Watching a programme tonight on ITV it was very easy to pick out the Queen pre and post Diana. (and I don't just mean the shade of the grey!!) She is far more touchy and personal. A change which I think has helped people's perception of her.
However sitting outside her house on the day of her anniversary - I can't see why. Can you imagine Prince Harry or William taking the day off of school, uni, the army and sitting outside KP? (all the things they have had to do without her) Surely remembering her, trying to live your life a little less shelfish i.e thinking of others or a couple of hours charity work every week would be a far better way to honour a woman who spent her life speaking up for others that couldn't.

However sitting outside her house on the day of her anniversary - I can't see why. Can you imagine Prince Harry or William taking the day off of school, uni, the army and sitting outside KP? (all the things they have had to do without her) Surely remembering her, trying to live your life a little less shelfish i.e thinking of others or a couple of hours charity work every week would be a far better way to honour a woman who spent her life speaking up for others that couldn't.

Surely that is a better way to mourn an individual than weeping over her in private or holding candlelight vigils for her.

Every year the public remembrancese for Diana become less and less. The first year after her death people went to Kensington Palace, brought flowers and lit candles and said prayers. The crowd was still there but fewer in numbers in her second year. Now by it's eighth year, it's sparse to say something generous. Why? Because people have moved on.

Nobody sees William or Harry throwing themselves across Kensington Palace crying for their mother. And she was their mother! I did not even read that either of the boys or any of Diana's brother or sisters went to visit her grave on the anniversary of her death. Makes you wonder why complete strangers who have never met her grieve so much on such an anniversary when even her own family doesn't grieve.

I don't think it's fair to say that they don't grieve; it's just that they don't show their grief in public, probably because it's so personal to them and they've been trained in the royal tradition of keeping personal things to themselves.

As long as it's now a week after Diana's death, and I don't want this thread to turn into an argument about how and why people are reacting in the way they are, I'm going to close it. If people are interested in a discussion about the reaction of the public, please feel free to start another thread.

I always light a scented candle and think of her the evening of the 31st and stay up late that evening. (I don't try to make a big thing of it since my best friend lost her father and husband in the very same week five years ago. Perhaps it's a little shallow in that I didn't know Diana, but I don't think it hurts anyone to keep it as a private observance on my part.) And I'll include her in my prayers on Sunday at church.

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Nor do I. And when I think about it, I don't feel sad actually. Not that I'm heartless but I find it better to think of the good memories you have from her or some anecdotes. The one that always made me laugh is the story of Sarah and Diana going into a limo parked in the garage and Diana impersonating the chauffeur and Sarah imitating the Queen Mother. That's the stuff I like to remember of when I think of Diana.

Her death and Dodi's death are still like a hard kick in the gut. Usually the 31st of August here in the USA is a holiday (Labor Day - end of summer) but ever since 1997, it is a gruelling , sad, somber day. I still cry.

I don't do anything special really, but I've been feeling really depressed today I know it's not "time" yet but it just really hurts to think today was her last day, sometimes I wish someone could have stopped her, I know I sound soo cheesy cause I mean I don't know her , I never met her I barely remember her but after learning so much about her this day really gets to me.

If I hadn't read this board I wouldn't have even realised that it was the anniversary. The date has no meaning for me at all. She has been dead for 11 years and I never met her so she was just a blip on the radar who had no meaning in my life or what I did or thought.

I can't understand why people would be still upset or anything, except for her family and really close friends, this long after a stranger died.

I would hate to think what you people would be like on the anniversary of a close family member - in our family we might get together this year for my mother's second anniversary and have dinner but I doubt it.

I am not saying you shouldn't be doing anything just that I find it strange.

I live close to the Pacific Ocean in the USA, so I take balloons to the sea and let them float upward to the sky until they are out of view. Last year it was ten, this year eleven. I also have a friend in the London area who places flowers and a card for me at KP. The day is always a bit somber for me as I wonder what Diana would have been doing, would she have had more children, who would she have married, what charities would she be involved in.......Eleven years and it seems like yesterday. Sad, very sad.

I still remember from the memorial service last year, Prince Harry joyously injecting the statement from both he and William about their mother when it was supposed to be a "reading". William looking down, choking back tears....

I have found/seen nothing on the UK news even mentioning the 11th anniversary. Perhaps at last, the boys are able to remember their mother in private.

One small section -

Tributes have been paid to Diana, Princess of Wales, on the 11th anniversary of her death.
Fans of the Princess made their annual pilgrimage to her former home, Kensington Palace, to leave flowers and tie pictures and messages to the iron gates